HK designs are ready to take on the world

But there has been more than an increase in the quantity of new submissions. There has also been an increase in the quality.

'Overall, the quality of the designs is very good, much higher than in previous years,' Mr Liu said. 'Many of the products are very innovative. You can see they were not just targeted at the local market. They could be marketed all over the world. In the past, when you looked at a product, you could tell it was done by a local company. That is no longer true. There has been a great improvement in the quality of local design.'

When it comes to product designers, Hong Kong has no shortage of talent. The Polytechnic University turns out many talented designers each year. Many locals go abroad to study design and return to practise their trade. Local companies also have no problem recruiting overseas graduates to work in Hong Kong, which is increasingly being seen as a design centre for Asia. Companies here are also able - and willing - to contract overseas design companies when necessary. 'A lot of young designers are coming out from overseas, especially England,' Mr Liu said.

When it comes to research and development (R&D), however, it is a different story. Hong Kong has neither heavy industry nor a military, and this is where most of the basic research that eventually leads to product innovation takes place. As a result, companies must rely on research done at overseas universities, which they modify and incorporate into their own existing or new products to add value.

'We don't have enough good R&D people in Hong Kong,' Mr Liu said. 'When it comes to inventions, most Hong Kong companies will buy the technology from the United States, Japan or even China.'

Three basic trends are taking place in consumer product design, and they are all part of a worldwide trend. In this regard, Hong Kong is a follower rather than a leader.

'Hong Kong is like a microcosm of the world,' Mr Liu said. 'Whatever is popular on the other side of the world will become popular here.' The first trend is towards higher added value.

'Mobile phones are a good example,' Mr Liu said. 'When you buy a mobile phone it is not just a mobile phone. It has to include such features as MP3, a digital camera, a personal digital assistant and sometimes even a radio.'

The second is innovation. 'When consumers buy things, there are so many choices on the market that we want something innovative,' Mr Liu said. 'If there are several products with similar features, they will want something with an innovative design.'

The third is size. 'Everything now needs to be portable,' Mr Liu said. 'If you go to Starbucks, you want to work on your notebook. That's why it has to be very small and very portable.'

High labour costs have forced companies in developed countries such as Japan and the United States to move much of their manufacturing to the mainland in recent years, and Hong Kong has been a part of this trend. As a result, companies that traditionally manufactured products to others' specifications are now having to come up with their own designs. For many companies, this has meant creating design and R&D departments.

'A few years ago, when people came to Hong Kong, they would ask: Can you make this for me? Now they should be asking: Do you have any good products you would like to show us?'

The Hong Kong Awards for Industry play a key role in the perception of Hong Kong's design capabilities worldwide.

'Some small companies have told us that before winning an award, they tried approaching both local and overseas companies, and nobody wanted to talk to them,' Mr Liu said. 'After they got the prize, the phone started ringing. Companies were approaching them.'

Competition from the mainland - not to mention Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries in Southeast Asia - has not been lost on Hong Kong's consumer products sector. The sweatshops of old are giving way to increasingly sophisticated operations that are starting to attract talent from around the world - while leveraging the mainland's abundant land and cheap labour.

The city has a long way to go before it becomes known as a design centre on a par with the United States or Japan, but it is headed in the right direction.

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